confluens

Forms

cōnfluēns m (genitive cōnfluentis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

Used as a noun, it is the present participle from Latin cōnfluō (“to flow together”).^[2][1] Cōnfluō is formed from con- and fluō (“to flow”),^[1] which goes back to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰleuH- (“to flow (over)”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Caesar uses it in the Gallic War for the confluence of the Meuse and the Rhine (ad confluentem Mosae et Rheni).^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It named the place where rivers meet, in the singular and the plural:^[2] Livy has a camp pitched ad confluentes, and Pliny the Elder and Tacitus also use the plural.^[2] An inscription mentions an altar “at the confluence”.^[2] The plural Confluentes became the name of a town where the Moselle joins the Rhine, now Koblenz, which Suetonius mentions.^[2] English confluent (late 15th century) comes from the participle.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the confluence of the Meuse and the Rhine.^[2][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses the plural for a confluence where a camp is pitched.^[2][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius mentions the town of Confluentes.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A meeting place of rivers, a confluence.^[2][6][1]
2. (plural, as a proper name) Confluentes, a town where the Moselle meets the Rhine, modern Koblenz.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press